In this special issue of Critical Arts we aim to explore participatory art practices that specifically engage with technology and digital media. There has been a growing body of art that focuses on social practices, networks and processes as constituting the artwork itself. This implies that the events that facilitate social interaction and cultural encounter are variously seen as the actual art practice (Siegenthaler 2013). However, because contemporary media culture is characterized by participation, interaction, immersion and collaboration, art practices are challenged to move beyond a “mere” adoption of new technologies. There is a need to explore how technologies are also changing our experience of place, conceptions of intimacy, co-presence and interaction, and to generate new understandings of technological mediation as a feature of social relations (Beaulieu, 2010; Hjorth and Sharp 2014).

We invite papers from researchers, theorists and artists to engage critically with how technology, media and networks open up new avenues to develop practices that examine place and locality, community and communication, interaction and intimacy, proximity and distance, creation and co-creation. Papers can also focus more broadly on the impact of digital technologies on art today, for example by exploring the creative and participatory practices that are made possible by artists working with technology or by collaborations between artists, scientists and technological experts, focusing for example on robotics, virtual/ augmented reality, immersive media or game technology (Gardiner and Gere 2010, Gronlund 2016). Next to full research papers we also invite contributions that can serve as vignettes – short statements and reflections by artists about their practice.

– Deadline for abstracts: Please send your abstracts of 300 words by April 15th 2017 to Kris.Rutten @ UGent.be.
– Notification of selected abstracts by: May 15th 2017.
– Deadline for article submission: based on the selection of the abstracts full papers will need to be submitted by: August 15th 2017.
– Information and instructions for authors: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/RCRC

All completed manuscripts MUST be uploaded onto the online manuscript portal Scholar One. Go to Critical Arts on the Taylor and Francis site. There is an option on the top left pane of the screen that says ‘submit’, select this then click ‘submit online’ and follow the prompts.

Further inquiries about the special issue: Kris.Rutten @ UGent.be
Alternatively, contact the Critical Arts editorial office at criticalarts @ ukzn.ac.za or the editor-in-chief, Keyan Tomaselli at keyant @ uj.ac.za

Critical Arts prides itself in publishing original, readable, and theoretically cutting edge articles. For more information on the history and the orientation of the journal, as well as guidelines for authors, and legal and editorial procedures, please visit: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/rcrcauth.asp Critical Arts is now published six times annually and is indexed in the International Bibliography of Social Sciences (IBSS) and the ISI Social Science Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index and other indexes.